Just a Kiss
by paynesgrey
Summary: While trying to escape their loneliness, Rachel and Will are cast as romantic leads in an independent play. Up to 2x19. ONESHOT.


AN: Written for the glee_rare_pairs fic exchange on Livejournal. Thanks to sweetly_beth for the beta. This will not be continued. 

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><p><span>Just a Kiss<span>

A chill shot up her spine as she met his eyes, and Rachel knew that things were bad.

_Extremely _bad.

She never expected this, and by the look on Will Schuester's face, he hadn't either.

She tried to escape from the reality of Finn dating Quinn by finding solace in an independent theater production that would add to her growing resume of talent. She was, as expected, getting the lead of Sarah Brown in _Guys and Dolls_ at the Lima Star Theater House downtown, and personally, she didn't care who got the lead role of Sky Masterson, as long as he was cute and talented, and as long as Rachel Berry could instruct him on how show business was really done.

Rachel never expected her _teacher_ to get that part.

Apparently, he was finding solace in independent theater as well.

"Rachel!" he said startled. His face lost its color instantly, and she couldn't blame him for being worried playing the romantic lead opposite her. She did, after all, have a dangerous crush on him at one time.

They were mostly over that. Well, until she got drunk and let it slip that she thought his sweater vest was cute. He gave her that warning look again - one mixed with fear and awkwardness. Rachel liked Will Schuester, and she had plenty of reasons why.

The student and teacher relationship was frighteningly taboo despite her feelings. Will Schuester had problems, but he wasn't that stupid, and Rachel was sure he could never feel anything but paternal affection for her.

_He's not Finn, that's for sure_, a voice in her head reminded her, and the true meaning of her thought was vague, but scary enough that Rachel didn't dwell on it. She straightened her posture and forced a smile.

"Mr. Schue, how...surprising," she said. "I didn't expect _you_ to be here."

"Well..." He cleared his throat. "I was trying to, you know, deal with some personal issues, and this seemed like the perfect solution."

She glared at him. Working together in this play would be impossible. She wouldn't dare back out because of him. She was going to play Sarah Brown, and her teacher would just have to gracefully quit his role. Maybe the director could make him an extra.

Will Schuester wouldn't stop frowning at her.

Rachel rested her fists on her hips. "I hope you don't expect me to drop out of this play because you're here. Do you know what this will do to my budding career? I plan on playing Sarah Brown on Broadway."

Will swallowed hard, and he looked conflicted, but he knew that he had to do the right thing. "Of course not. I'll talk to the director, maybe get another part." He furrowed his brow when an idea struck him. "The director likes you. Perhaps you can convince him I'd be best for Nathan Detroit instead of Sky."

"No can do." Both Rachel and Will turned in the direction of the voice behind them. The director was studying them and frequently sipping his large, dirty coffee mug.

"He's my _teacher_! Something has to be done about this," Rachel complained anxiously. "I cannot play a romantic lead with my teacher. It's weird and possibly illegal."

"Then drop out, Babs. We can stick you in the dance chorus," he said, looking her over. Rachel stepped back with an offended cry.

"I beg your pardon, I am no chorus girl; I'm a _star_!"

"Then act like a star. Suck it up and play the role that you got," he said, and Rachel turned to pout at Will.

"You want to bow out too, pretty boy? We're short gamblers in the sewer," he asked challengingly.

Will lifted his chin. "No, I'm good."

"Mr. Schue!" Rachel grabbed his arm and pulled _hard_. He winced as she hollered at him. "There are two kissing scenes between our characters in this play! Are you insane?"

He gave her a weak smile. "We'll figure something out."

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><p>"How could you? <em>You're<em> the adult in this!" Rachel shrieked at him as they were leaving the theater.

"Rachel, I can't drop out of this show, and even though being a sewer gambler could have been fine, I have to have the lead. I can't back down," Will insisted.

"Why? Is this some strange male ego thing or do you really want to torture me?" Rachel asked, but Will met her eyes with desperation.

"I can't ...go home," he said. Rachel's temper subsided as he explained. "If I go home, I drink. I'm fine at school; I have you guys and classes, but if I go home, I'm reminded of my wife, of Emma, of my loneliness. Holly's gone off to a monastery to pray for quake victims so she's under phone silence. I've intruded upon Bieste's life way too much. I need to...get out of the house. I need this, and if I were an extra, I still won't be here that much." He paused, and Rachel couldn't deny the tortured look on his face. "This play is the best thing I have in my life right now."

"Mr. Schue..." Rachel frowned as he turned away from her gaze. She hated this, and she hated that she was giving in, but she liked Mr. Schue that much that she didn't want him to suffer. "Alright. If I'm going to be an actress on Broadway someday, I have to learn how to _act_."

He smiled at her, relieved and grateful. "Do you need a ride home?" he asked.

Rachel shook her head. "No, my dads will be here any minute." Will nodded, and Rachel beamed. "Besides, you'd just make me sit in the backseat like I was eight again."

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><p>She had so much fun reading lines with Mr. Shue that she didn't dread the kiss parts as much. There were two, one that was followed by a slap and the other one at the end. She didn't invest much thought into it, and she was grateful that he didn't either. When they came to that part in the reading, they were true to the characters, and they had delved into the minds of strangers, making those moments theirs.<p>

When their lips broke away and they came back to earth, Rachel laughed to ease the tension, and Will reached over and punched her playfully on the arm.

Weeks of rehearsal seemed to fly by, and Rachel and Will were enjoying the surprises of finished sets, rumors of sold-out tickets, and loaned-out costumes coming from bigger theaters.

The butterflies fluttered in her stomach on the last dress rehearsal, and when Rachel and Will learned that the glee kids, as well as Kurt's friends from Dalton, were going to be there, the trepidation of the kiss came back with a vengeance.

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><p>Will found Rachel pacing in the back of the theater, muttering to herself and tried to remain calm about their kiss in front of her classmates. Twice. And in front of Finn, of all people.<p>

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Will said, and she pulled away when he tried to touch her. She looked up at him nervously.

"I don't think I can do it, Mr. Schue. Everyone's going to be out there," she said, and she leaned close and whispered. "Everyone will see us _kiss_."

Will sighed, appearing just as uncomfortable. "You know, I thought I could pretend it didn't bother me, but I'm worried about it too. Especially if Sue is lurking somewhere around here."

His words did not help, and Rachel felt even worse. "You're supposed to encourage me! _It'll be okay, Rachel! It's just acting!_ And yet, you suck at this pep talk, Mr. Schue! You suck at everything!"

She tried to storm away, but Will caught her. She began to sob softly against him, and he ruffled her hair, trying to soothe her.

"I know. I can't lie to you and tell you that everything is going to be okay, that there won't be some backlash," he said, and he drew her away and looked into her eyes. "But you're better than that, Rachel. You are a star, and no hack independent director, and no Sue Sylvester, can ever take that away from you." He paused, and Rachel smiled weakly as tears started to fade. "Rise above that and prove them wrong, and don't ruin it on my account."

She wiped away a stray tear, and they both heard the call for makeup. It was time, and the premiere was a little than over an hour away. "If you want, I can feign illness and my understudy can take it from here."

"No," she said, straightening her back and finding her resolve. "You're right. I _am_ stronger than that, and what's one little kissing scene?"

"Two," he corrected her, and Rachel laughed.

"It's not like it's us anyway," she said, tilting her head as her eyes glittered. "It's a kiss between Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown."

"Exactly," he said, and they both started walking back to the dressing rooms to get ready for their makeup. Even though the kiss still made them both nervous, Mr. Schue's talk had put Rachel at ease.

When the curtains opened, Rachel wondered if she could have done this role without Will Schuester beside her.

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><p>(The hot spotlights burned down on them, an idle distraction as they moved, like puppets, through the lines as characters from another time. She smelled the tinge of plastic from the makeup, and when he moved close - <em>not him<em>, but this other character, she could smell his cologne. _Sky Masterson's cologne_, and she wondered idly if it was anachronistic, like the unnoticeable details of different facets of this play.

He leaned close - and for a split second she realized his character was no more make believe than she was. His lips pressed against hers, soft and dry, and smooth as warmly pressed satin. The force behind it was hesitant and expedient. (_Let's just get this over with_, it said to her, and she took no insult in it.) It hummed with invigoration - feeling otherworldly, and they were done.

Fireworks were forbidden, but she couldn't help herself. The heat pooled in her belly, her butterflies violently imploding with a bang, and the fear and anxiety dulled away like the stark air after a muggy storm.

They turned to the front and the audience jumped to their feet.)

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><p>When the curtain fell, they joined their fellow performers on stage and bowed. Rachel and Will felt especially proud of themselves, worthy of the flying roses and deafening applause. Remembering their lines and the songs had been easy, but the tremendous stress of those kisses had been the true challenge.<p>

Rachel was relieved that she'd never have to worry about it again, but she couldn't help but wonder - with strange hope and curiosity, if she and Will Schuester would ever be cast opposite each other again.

END


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